Philippine troops battle Muslim militants

Filipino president, Benigno Aquino III, has said that peace talks with Muslim militants wouls continue, but government troops would continue to pursue criminals affiliated with the group. Photograph: Ryan Lim/AP

More than 16,000 people have fled four southern Philippine towns where government troops have been battling Muslim militants in clashes that are endangering peace talks and a years-long truce.

Attempts by Philippine authorities to arrest several current and former commanders of the 11,000-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front and allied gunmen accused of kidnappings for ransom and other crimes sparked separate deadly clashes last week in Zamboanga Sibugay province and on Basilan island.

The Moro group has been waging a bloody fight for self-rule in southern Mindanao region, homeland of minority Muslims in the predominantly Roman Catholic Philippines. A ceasefire has held since 2008.

The president, Benigno Aquino III, said his administration would continue talks with the insurgents but seek the arrest of criminals, including those from the rebel group.

The 120,000-strong military suffered one of its biggest losses in years in Basilan last week when troops tried to capture a fugitive rebel commander and other outlaws, igniting fighting that killed 19 soldiers.

Fearing more clashes, nearly 6,000 villagers have fled from Al-Barka and outlying towns in Basilan, a predominantly Muslim province about 550 miles (880km) south of Manila, office of civil defence administrator Benito Ramos said.

In Zamboanga Sibugay, also in the south, about 10,800 villagers have fled to safety from three towns, including in coastal Payao, where airforce bombers, naval gunboats and about 700 army troops and police have been trying to flush out more than 120 former Muslim rebels and bandits encamped in a hilly forest, officials said.

The Zamboanga Sibugay police chief Ruben Cariaga said military aircraft had staged bombing runs for a second day on Tuesday in Payao. Troops assaulted the bandits after planes dropped bombs on their base on Monday but were met by heavy machine-gun fire that killed two soldiers, he said.

Cariaga said on Tuesday the gunmen, who include members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, had been surrounded.

The gunmen, accused of kidnappings for ransom, extortion and other crimes, may be holding at least one hostage, officials said.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front spokesman Von Al Haq has urged the military to stop the Payao offensive, saying Muslim rebels from his group were among those surrounded by troops but the criminals being sought by authorities were not their members and not in the area under fire.

The Payao offensive has displaced many of his group's civilian followers and was endangering the ceasefire, Al Haq said. He expressed optimism the peace talks would survive the latest test.

"We've consistently said that the most civilised way to end the rebellion is through negotiations and not by the law of the gun," Al Haq told the Associated Press by telephone.

The Japanese ambassador, Toshinao Urabe, whose country has been backing the peace talks for years, said he hoped the ceasefire would be respected and that both sides would continue efforts to foster peace talks.

"The recent firefights are a source of serious concern for me because it is jeopardising the peace process," Urabe said.